The tunnelling of the connecting line between the Aminievskoe depot and the Big Circle Line (BCL) has started, Andrey Bochkarev, Deputy Mayor of Moscow on Urban Planning and Construction, reported. Mosinzhproekt Engineering Holding is the operator of the Moscow metro development programme.
“The tunnel boring machine christened “Esmina” has started driving a 756-metre running tunnel from the site located between the future Davydkovo and Aminievskaya stations of the Big Circle Metro Line toward the Aminievskoe depot under construction,” Andrey Bochkarev said.
The head of the Construction Complex explained that the Aminievskoe depot under construction will serve the Big Circle Line of the capital’s subway.
“The connecting line will be used to feed rolling stock to serve the BCL, and this will make it possible to schedule train operations as necessary. The construction of the depot itself will create additional capacity for overnight parking and repair of the rolling stock of the BCL,” the Deputy Mayor emphasised.
In his turn, Yuri Kravtsov, General Director of Mosinzhproekt, added that the tunnelling of the connecting line would be carried out in a complex hydrogeological environment.
“The tunnel boring machine will pass under Aminievskoe Highway and General Dorokhov Street through soils consisting of silt sands with layers of fine water-saturated sand, as well as soft-plastic and hard-plastic loams,” Yuri Kravtsov noted.
According to the CEO of Mosinzhproekt, earlier the Robbins TBM “Esmina” with a diameter of 6 metres drove a 1,776-meter right running tunnel between the Khoroshyovskaya and Narodnoe Opolchenie stations in the western section of the BCL.
The Moscow metro currently has 20 depots, 11 of hich have been built and reconstructed over the past 10 years with the participation of Mosinzhproekt Engineering Holding.
The Big Circle is the flagship and the most ambitious metro construction project in the capital. The 70-km line will have 31 stations, 12 of which are already open for passengers. The BCL will become the longest underground circle line in the world.
